Electric valve operating means



May 31, 1938.

J. F. FRESE ELECTRIC VALVE OPERATING MEANS Filed Feb. 24, 1936 PatentedMay 31, 1938 PATENT OFFICE ELECTRIC VALVE OPERATING MEANS Joseph F.Frese, Baltimore, Md., assignor to Monitor Controller Company,Baltimore, Md., a corporation of Maryland Application February 24, 1936,Serial No. 65,510

2 Claims.

In railway cars equipped with generators and batteries for supplyingcurrent to lamps and to motors for operating air cooling apparatus, aswitchboard is usually placed at one end of the car. In cold weather,the air in the car is kept at a temperature comfortable to thepassengers by steam heat supplied through pipes from the locomotive andcontrolled by valves in the car, and even in mild weather these valveshave to be operated at times to maintain the proper tempei ature in thecar. It is the purpose of this invention to provide means forcontrolling the valves electrically from a distant point, as by a switchwhich may be conveniently arranged on the switchboard at one end of thecar. The invention comprises two electromagnets for each valve,

one magnet for opening the valve and the other for closing it. As thevalves some time stick, especially after long disuse, I provide meanswhereby, when a magnet is energized to operate the valve, if the valvemoves immediately, the circuit through the magnet coil will be at oncecut off; but if the valve sticks, the current will be applied to themagnet coil for a predetermined time and will then be automatically cutoff, thus preventing overheating of the coil, and when the current iscut off, a signal, preferably a lamp, will be activated to indicate tothe operator that the valve has stuck and requires attention.

Referring to the drawing, in which the invention is illustrateddiagrammatically, L and L indicate supply wires lea-ding from a suitablecurrent source, 0 indicates a valve casing containing the valve which isto be controlled, b indicates an electro-magnet of the solenoid type foropening the valve and c indicates a similar magnet for closing thevalve. For the purpose of illustration, the solenoids are shown onopposite sides of a lever I which is secured to the valve stem 2, andthe cores of the solenoids are pivotally connected to the lever. Thelever carries an insulated contact member 3 which engages contacts 4 and5 when the valve is closed, to make up a circuit to the solenoid b, andthe member 3 is adapted to engage contacts 6 and 1 when the valve isopen, to make up a circuit to the solenoid 0. Contact 4 is connected byconductor 8 to stationary contact 9 of a manually operable switch it,and contact 6 is connected by the conductor ID to stationary contact I Iof said switch. A switch arm I2 is movable into and out of engagementwith either of said contacts 9 and II. This arm is connected byconductor l3 to the side L of the supply circuit.

When the valve lever is in the full-line position shown in the drawing,if the switch lever 12 is moved into engagement with the contact 9, acircuit will be made up to the solenoid b as follows: From the supplywire L through conductor l3, switch arm 12, contact 9, conductor 8,contacts 4, 3 and 5, and conductor l5 to coil of solenoid b. If thelever is in the dotted line position and the switch arm I2 is moved intoengagement with contact H, a circuit will be made up to the coil ofsolenoid c as follows: From supply wire L through conductor I3, arm 12,contact ll, conductor 10, contacts 6, 3 and 'l and conductor 16 to coilof solenoid o. The coil of solenoid b is connected by conductor ll to aconductor Iii which is also connected to the coil of solenoid 0, so thatthe circuits of both solenoids are continued through conductor I8 tocoil I9 of a retarded relay e, thence through conductor 20 to a coil 2|of a relay f, thence by conductor 22 to the normally closed relay switch23, and thence by conductor 24 to supply wire L. The relay f has a highresistance winding 25 in series with coil 2|, but permanently connectedto conductor 24 and the supply wire L, instead of being connectedthrough the switch 23. Normally the high resistance coil is shuntedthrough conductor 22 and switch 23. A conductor 26 extends from coil 2|to conductor 2'! in which is included a signaling device, preferably alamp 28, and conductor 2'! is connected to conductor 24 and thence tosupply wire L. The signal circuit just traced is thus in series with thelow resistance coil 2| and in shunt to the high resistance coil 25 andswitch 23. The retarded relay e controls a shunt around the coils ofrelay 1 as follows: From conductor 20, through conductor 29 and a switch30 of relay 9 to conductor 3 l, and thence through conductors 26, 22,switch 23, and conductor 24 to supply wire L. The relay e has a movablecontact member 32 which normally engages stationary contacts 33 and 34,and a dash-pot 35 retards the lipward movement of the member 32. Thecoils of the solenoids b and c and the coils l9 and 2| of the relays areof low resistance.

The operation is as follows: if the valve lever is in the full lineposition shown in the drawing, corresponding to the closed position ofthe valve, and it is desired to open the valve, the switch lever I2 willbe moved from the off position into engagement with the contact 9. Ifthe valve does not stick, it will be immediately opened by theattraction of the solenoid b which will be energized by current flowingfrom supply wire L through switch d and conductors B and I5 to coil ofsolenoid b, thence through conductors I! and l8 and coil 59 of solenoide to conductor 20, thence through conductor 29, switch 30, conductors3|, 26 and 22, switch 23 and conductor 24 to supply wire L. In moving toopen the valve, the contact member 3 on the lever will open the circuitto the magnet b and make up the circuit to the magnet 0 at the contacts6 and i.

If the valve sticks and does not immediately open, current in fullstrength will be applied to the coil of solenoid b for a short time, andthen will be automatically cut off and the signal lamp will be lightedto indicate that the valve has stuck and needs attention. Thus, if thesolenoid I) does not open the valve immediately when current is admittedto its coil, the circuit through the coil will be maintained at thecontacts 4 and 5 and current at full strength will flow through the coiluntil the valve opens or the retarded relay e opens the switch 39. Theopening 'of this switch will open the shunt circuit around the lowresistance coil 2i of relay 3, and current at full strength will thenflow from conductor 2B through said coil to conductor 22, thence throughswitch 23 and conductor 24 to supply wire L. Relay f will then openswitch 23. This will open the shunt around the high resistance coil 25of relay 1 and the current flowing through coil 25 will cause the relayto hold the switch 23 open. The opening of this switch also opens ashunt around the lamp circuit 26, 21, and the lamp lights, indicating tothe operator that the valve has not opened and requires attention. Whenthe switch 23 opens, the resistance of the lamp and the resistance ofthe coil 25 of relay f, in multiple, are left in series with coil 2| ofrelay coil E9 of relay 6 and the coil of solenoid b. The current flowingin the coil of relay 6 is thus reduced and the relay closes the switch39, but without effect, as the switch 23 of relay 7 is held open by thecurrent flowing in its high resistance coil. The current flowing in thecoil of solenoid b is also reduced so that no one of the coils can beinjured by excessive current. The signal will be energized until thevalve is manually moved, which will cause the circuit of the coil ofsolenoid b and the coils of the relays to be broken, or until thecircuit is otherwise interrupted, as by moving the arm of switch it toopen position. When the circuit is broken, the relay f permits itsswitch 23 to close and the relays are then set for the next operation.

When the valve is open, the valve lever is in the dotted line positionand the circuit for the coil of solenoid c is made up at the contacts 6and I to the switch d. When it is desired to close the valve, the arm ofswitch d is moved into engagement with contact I l and the current thenflows from supply wire L through said switch and conductors l0 and Hi tothe coil oi relay 0 and thence through conductor l8 and the relaycircuits previously traced, which are common to the coils of bothsolenoids b and c, to the supply wire L. If the valve does not stick,the solenoid 0 will immediately move it to the closed position and thevalve lever will open the circuit to the solenoid c at the contacts 6and l and make up the circuit to the solenoid b at the contacts 4, 5. Ifthe valve does not move from the open position immediately, the currentat full strength will be applied for a limited time to the coil ofsolenoid c, and at the expiration of that time, if the valve has notmoved, the relay e will open the switch 30, breaking the shunt aroundcoil 2| of relay f, and the latter relay will open the switch 23,breaking the shunt around the high resistance coil 25 and the signalcircuit 26, 21. The switch 23 will be kept open by current flowingthrough the high resistance coil 25, and the current in coil of relay 6will be reduced by reason of the resistance introduced into its circuit,and this relay will close, but without effect. Its coil and the coil ofsolenoid 0 will be protected by the resistance introduced in series withthem, so that no injury can result to the coils. The lamp will remainlighted to indicate that the valve has stuck until the circuit throughthe solenoid is broken by manual movement of the valve or by opening ofthe switch d.

What I claim is:

1. The combination with a current source, a device movable back andforth between two positions, two electromagnets having their armaturesoperatively connected to said device, one of said magnets, whenenergized, adapted to move said device in one direction and the othermagnet, when energized, adapted to move said device in the oppositedirection, a circuit for the coils of said magnets including a switchoperable by each magnet to open the circuit to its own coil and to makeup the circuit to the coil of the other magnet, and a manuallycontrolled switch for connecting the coil of the magnet whose circuit isso made up to the current source, of means for automatically reducingthe current flow in the magnet coil so connected if the magnet fails tomove the device comprising a relay having a low resistance operatingcoil and a normally closed switch in the magnet circuit and having ahigh resistance holding coil in shunt to the relay switch, said relay,when its operating coil is energized, adapted to open the latter switch,and a retarded relay, having a coil in the magnet circuit, controllingthe first-mentioned relay to cause the latter to open. the magnetcircuit in a predetermined time after the closure of said latter circuitby said manually controlled switch providing the energized magnet failsto move said device and open its own circuit.

2. The combination with a current source, a device movable back andforth between two positions, two electromagnets having their armaturesoperatively connected to said device, one of said magnets, whenenergized, adapted to move said device in one direction and the othermagnet, when energized, adapted to move said device in the oppositedirection, a circuit for the coils of said magnets including a switchoperable by each magnet to open the circuit to its own coil and to makeup the circuit to the coil of the other magnet, and a manuallycontrolled switch for connecting the coil of the magnet whose circuit isso made up to the current source, of means for automatically reducingthe current flow in the magnet coil so connected if the magnet fails tomove the device comprising a relay having a low resistance operatingcoil and a normally closed switch in the magnet circuit and having ahigh resistance holding coil in shunt to the relay switch, said relay,when its operating coil is energized, adapted to open the latter switch,a normally closed circuit in shunt to said operating coil, and aretarded relay, having a coil in said magnet circuit, adapted to opensaid shunt circuit in a predetermined time after the closure of saidmagnet circuit by said manually controlled switch, providing theenergized magnet fails to move said device and open its own circuit.

JOSEPH F. FRESE.

